Demonstrators in Minneapolis and across the entire country have poured onto the streets after a 46-years-old African-American, unarmed and handcuffed George Floyd, died in police custody. Derek Chauvin, a white policeman with police brutality record, had his knee on Floyd's neck for over 8 minutes. Trying to catch a breath, the man begged the officers to let him stand up. George Floyd's death provoked mass protests in all 50 states of America and a series of other countries, becoming one of the largest movements worldwide. Robert DiCapo, a Black American screenwriter living in Los Angeles, described his experience as a person of color in the U.S. and explained the motivation behind Black Lives Matter protests.
A nine-year-old boy of color from a small town in West Virginia shook hands after a recreational soccer game, for the first time being called a nigger by another boy (not of color). That very same year the boy was harassed, beaten, and continually tormented by a neighborhood teen who threatened to harm his family if anyone else is told. Now, let’s flash forward to the boy's teenage years – he had a firearm dry fired in his mouth by police officers. Why? All because he dared to show up to escort a friend, who had been bullied for dating a white girl, home. Even though I am a screenwriter, the aforementioned is not a film script.
I’ve experienced crosses burning in the yards of Black families, and hundreds of teens throwing blows in a battle royal over interracial dating. I know what it’s like to be in the middle of a protest that spins out of control. I also know how it feels to be hunted down by angry racist humans with shotguns. All of the above is only a sliver of my experiences as a person of color in a country that claims “freedom and justice for all” – America. What’s even crazier, I was adopted by a white family with major political ties. One might think that would shelter me from all the hatred and prejudice, yet the assumption couldn’t be further from the truth. Countless individuals thought I was merely an angry, confused Black kid as if I was the issue. Truth be told, I was not confused at all, but I was angry – angry that my opportunities and freedoms were an illusion. Every time I spoke out, there was a punishment to follow. Hence, I did exactly what those in power wanted: I lashed out, armed myself, and fought battle after battle behind enemy lines. Now, almost thirty years later, we are still having to fight.
I’m now a family man working in the TV and Film industry, currently living in LA county, just outside of Hollywood. It’s no secret that Los Angeles can be a wild place of car chases, celebrity scandals, and historical riots. This eruption, however, appears to be the most impactful. It comes at a time when the entire world is fearful of a pandemic, employment is in the sewer, and many have no clue how they are going to survive another week. Let us not forget the political fireball on Capitol Hill, which continues to be a supernova threat. Without a doubt, all of this adds up to be a perfect mixture for disaster.
Robert DiCapo and other protestors peacefully marching in LA
Take a moment to swallow this year's truth pill. People of color were already trying to process the horror of Ahmaud Arbery being hunted down and murdered by Gregory McMichael and his son, Travis, in Georgia. While the two killers were eventually charged, it took weeks before anything was done. How did it take weeks? Why did it require a video going viral first? If you’re white and make a 911 call, claiming a person of color ran through your neighborhood and it scared you, the police lockdowns the area in minutes, with helicopters and guns ready to blaze. I have seen it happen more than once. Moreover, I once got rushed, detained, and interrogated at the beach, among thousands of people, because I fit the description of who the police were looking for. When I asked for the description, they said young, Black, and in baggy clothes. The police wasted no time, rounding up as many young people of color in baggy clothes as they could, all over a fistfight. At the same time, a Black man is killed while jogging, and it has to go viral to get any truthful action toward justice.
Even right now, as I type away this opinion piece, a new curfew alert blares out on my phone. It seems we have been granted a 9:00 p.m. extension – much unlike the 5:00 p.m. punishment we’ve had for the last two days. I guess Burbank, CA, felt being an hour ahead of everyone else would keep protestors, rioters, and looters from overwhelming our area due to the horrific murder of George Floyd. A man of color, a Black man, Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis Police Officer who refused to take his knee off Floyd’s neck while detaining him. A deli employee claimed that Floyd had purchased cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. It wasn’t long after that claim that the first squad car arrived on the scene, and the inexcusable unfolded. Three police officers violated department policies, and their actions of hatred toward an American of color killed George Floyd. An 8 minute and 46-second heartless act of hatred was committed while people screamed out for help, pleading with the officers that they were responsible to stop.
Unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence, and it happens on multiple levels daily. Daily. The murderers in uniform were fired, and Derek Chauvin, the one seen with his knee on Floyd, was charged with murder. Why, then, has all this hellish madness erupted in America? Well, I am not a novelist, and it would take a volume of books to get you up to speed on the subject, so I’ll keep it as current as possible.
For starters, there were three other officers involved, and it appeared as if they were going to go untouched. No one with morals was going to stand by and let this ride. The now-former officers would get to go home and celebrate, see family members, bask in the glory of their hatred? Sorry, not going to happen. Many Americans are already at each other’s throats over the political circus that has rebirthed a sleeping hatred across our country. If you asked them who’s to blame, they’d most likely reply Trump.
The riots across America, the protests, the refusal to obey curfew is the only option many of us feel we have. It’s the option we’ve been given, and the option forced upon us. Do not be fooled, it’s the one that those wrongly in power have always planned to use against us. There’s an abundance of peaceful, organized protests without violence. Now, some of you may be thinking, "Why do we see so many people responding with similar volatile actions we as black people have unequivocally had to endure throughout generations?" One way of explaining it, I guess, is that our president and a failed system, fuelling the flames of hatred, continue to work hard on snuffing out any hope for equality. When one feels there is no hope, why care about the consequences? Let’s take the Black Lives Matter reference. Life is precious, and we are all the definition of life. You are life, I am life, a plant is life, a fish is life, and everything else is your experiences as life. Since all life is connected, and it all comes from the original source, us saying Black Lives Matter should make total sense. Meaning, we are life just like all other life, and if you want to define life by color, then our life that you may see as “Black” matters just as much as any other life.
Looking at a plethora of media, you can see a melting pot of cultures protesting as one human species for changes. For instance, I recently marched in a protest that was well-organized by two teens, Natalie Kinlow and Reed Shannon. Yes, the youth in America has answered the call. There was a unity rarely seen, chants for change rang out. We vowed to vote, and we shed tears as we took a knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds. The majority of us are not out to break the law while legally protesting. We are being infiltrated by hate groups, working hard to crush peaceful protests in hopes of igniting violence that merits police their so-called rights to shoot tear gas and rubber bullets at their community. The infiltrators also inspire claims that POTUS should convince the US military to use tactical force against fellow Americans – Americans that just want to be treated equally – to keep the country safe. We are not your enemy, we've fought for this country, and we are still being hunted, mistreated, and suffocated on every level.
Robert DiCapo and other protestors taking a knee for 8 minutes and 46 seconds
Growing up as a person of color in America is a never-ending saga of not knowing what’s next, and a constant reminder of our race being slaves. Year after year in school they remind us how much we did not matter. Hence, when we grow up, hopefully, we’ll just accept slavery no matter what form it comes in. Oddly enough, when you look at it, color has nothing to do with the problem. If it did, then racist fools wouldn’t turn on their own color because of separate beliefs. It's merely hatred and lack of intelligence. It’s the Boogie Man, a beast that has embedded hooks everywhere without society caring to notice. I’m also half Mexican, which means not only did I grow up hearing black racial slurs but I also grew up hearing Hispanic ones. Paradoxically, they often came from those speaking out against racism against Blacks. You should have seen their faces when they found out I was also Mexican. I’ll say it again, ignorance is a big key in this useless batch of hatred for one another, so many of us are easily programmed to hate. There is a lot of profit in it for those wrongfully in power and all those that support them.
We need strong leaders. The leaders that deserve to be supported because they are, first of all, human, ready to heal the nation, seek balance, and pass on the values of a great leader for our future leaders. We need a new way of educating all races and cultures, with peace and love as a foundation. Those who have “power” and are responsible for keeping other humans safe must be held to a higher standard, from our schools up to the White House. To put it simply, we need the truth. We do not need my truth, his truth, her truth, or their truth. We just want the truth, which would allow us to move past this hell, rebuild and evolve as one human species.
Yes, we are all life, and all life matters. The problem is, in America, my Black life does not matter to those it should. Even though those other three police officers have been charged, and protests will begin to fizzle, the fight will not end until it is ended. What the world is witnessing is real Americans (of all colors) engaging a gunfight against hatred with only signs and chants. We want true change and do not condone the destruction of neighborhoods or putting other lives in danger – it is not the path. At the same time, this is also the very path we have been forced to, so buckle down. The revolution is gearing up, and, honestly, we will not let this happen again. I’ll end this piece with a message to those wrongfully in power and their supporters, from the late/great Tupac Shakur, “We might fight amongst each other, but I promise you this, we’ll burn this b*tch down, get us pissed.”
